Dance Class and Heredia

After classes on Wednesday, it was time for the Latin American dance class, where we learned the basic steps for salsa, merengue and cumbia. The instructor spoke only Spanish during the one-hour lesson. "Caderas" means "hips." She said that a lot. Other than that, it didn't really seem to matter what she said. We just watched and did what she did. Check out the pictures and video -- they speak for themselves.

Earlier, on Monday afternoon, we learned to use the public buses to go to the city of Heredia. Our guide, Johnny, said that it was just a large town, not a city, but it seemed like a city to most of us. Once in Heredia, we went to the enclosed market, which Johnny said was fast becoming a thing of the past in Costa Rica. There we saw all kinds of fruits and vegetables (some that were totally unfamiliar to us) and there were booths with meat, chicken, fish and dairy products. Johnny explained the uses of several of the lesser-known fruits, and he passed around samples of some seasonal fruits that we had never tried before. A few of the other vendors sold a variety of plants and herbs that are used for medicinal purposes, and we also saw booths with toys and games, candles, and just about anything for the house. After leaving the market, we went to the town square and saw the "fortin," which is a very important historical symbol for this region, and really for the entire country, as well as the colonial church in the central plaza of Heredia. Finally, we walked through part of the city to the university area, which is where la Universidad Nacional is located. It is one of the four public universities of Costa Rica. From there we got on another public bus to head back to San Joaquin. By that time, though, it was rush hour, so we were squeezed into the bus, most of us standing, in very close quarters. Johnny said that we would definitely be out of our comfort zone, and he was right. We don't have any pictures of that part because it was impossible to get the cameras out.

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